Holly Valance

Holly Rachel Candy (néeVukadinović; born 11 May 1983), known professionally as Holly Valance, is a British Australian actress, singer and model. Valance began her acting career on the Australian soap opera Neighbours, as Felicity Scully (1999–2002, 2005). She released her first album, Footprints (October 2002), which provided her top 3 singles, "Kiss Kiss" (April 2002), "Down Boy" (September) and "Naughty Girl" (December). By that time she had relocated to Los Angeles. Her second and final album, State of Mind, appeared in November 2003. Her film roles include, DOA: Dead or Alive (2006), Pledge This! (2006), Taken (2008) and Kambakkht Ishq (2009). Valance has lived in her mother's native United Kingdom since 2009 and became a contestant on the BBC One dance competition Strictly Come Dancing in 2011. In 2013 she was a mentor and judge of fashion competition, Shopaholic Showdown. In September 2012 Valance married British property developer, Nick Candy; the couple have two children.

Holly Valance was born on 11 May 1983, as Holly Rachel Vukadinović,[1] in Fitzroy, Victoria to a Serbian father, Rajko Vukadinović, and a British mother, Rachel (née Stephens), of English and Spanish extraction.[2][3] Her father was a former pianist and model in his native Belgrade.[4][5] Her mother, whose father was a relative of Benny Hill, was a model in her native United Kingdom.[3][4][5] Valance's parents divorced in 1986 and she has a sister, Coco. Rajko later remarried, and Holly has a half-sister, Olympia, who has also acted in Neighbours (2014–2018).[6] In Melbourne Rajko ran a "trendy imported European clothes store".[7][8] She started modelling as a teenager, when "she posed for supermarket catalogues and ad campaigns and by 14 she was earning $200 an hour modelling children's clothes and teenage lingerie."[7] Valance grew up in Melbourne and moved to the UK when she was 18; she holds dual Australian-British citizenship.[9][10] After two years she moved to Los Angeles, where she spent seven years before returning to the United Kingdom.[9]

Valance's second single, "Down Boy" (September), peaked at No. 2 in the UK and No. 3 in Australia. Her first album, Footprints, was released on 14 October 2002, which reached No. 9 in the UK and No. 15 in Australia. She co-wrote the album track, "The Harder They Come", with Rob Davis (ex-Mud), who supplied guitar for the album.[14][15] The album's third and final single, "Naughty Girl" (December) peaked at No. 3 in Australia and No. 16 in the UK.

Valance's second album, State of Mind, appeared in November 2003 and its title track, was the lead single.[11] It peaked at No. 8 in the UK and at No. 14 in Australia, but the album did not reach the top 50 in either market. Following legal problems and poor sales from State of Mind, Valance was reportedly dropped from her recording company. She denied this, "I asked to be released, but Warner refused, so I hung out for a year until the contract expired. We parted on good terms."[16] Valance later confirmed she is no longer interested in recording music, telling Men's Style magazine: "I do something until it's not fun any more and then move on. Music wasn't fun any more."[16]

After living in Los Angeles for seven years, Valance returned to England in 2009. That summer she had a brief relationship with electropop star Vince Frank (FrankMusik) after appearing in the video for his "Confusion Girl" single.[23] On 29 September 2012, Valance married billionaire English property developer Nick Candy in Beverly Hills, California.[24][25] In November 2013, Valance gave birth in London to their first child, a daughter, Luka Violet Toni Candy.[26] In September 2017, they welcomed a second daughter, Nova Skye Coco Candy. [27]

In 2003, Valance fired her then-manager Scott Michaelson (who owns Biscayne Partners Pty Ltd) by telephone, 15 months before his contract was due to expire. Biscayne Partners sued Valance Corp., won the case and was awarded damages by the Supreme Court of New South Wales.[28][29] During the trial, Valance's mother claimed Michaelson had been negligent as a manager, which forced her to take over from him.[30] The former Neighbours co-star Kym Valentine also gave evidence that Valance "said she was feeling bad, a bit stressed out, because she was leaving Scott" and that "she said the solicitors for her record company would get her out of the contract and would be faxing him the paper work (from the UK) to do so."[31] In court, Valance denied that she had said this to Valentine, even though she had signed an affidavit stating she had no recollection of the conversation.[32][33]

Justice Clifford Einstein said, "I have given close consideration to the question of whether or not the circumstances presently before the Court which do, it seems to me, show a calculated disregard of the rights of Biscayne as well as a cynical pursuit of benefit".[28] The court subsequently ordered Valance Corp. pay $350,000 to Biscayne Partners Pty. Ltd. Of this amount, $47,264.56 was "from shares Ms Valance and Mr Michaelson had bought together on the London Stock Exchange",[34] though the court did not award in favour of Biscayne getting a percentage of sales of her album, State of Mind.[28][35]

In addition to film and television roles, Valance has also appeared in adverts for Schwarzkopf hair care products and 1800 Reverse. In 2011, Valance appeared in an advert for Foster's Gold bottled beer.[36]
in 2015 Valance became an Ambassador for The Children's Trust, the UK's leading charity for children with brain injury and neurodisability. [37]